Aggro
Managing aggro is one of the most important aspects of grouping because so much depends on how much damage the group receives and where the damage ends up. For a long time it was thought that we as players would never be able get a sound understanding of how aggro works because it was assumed that it is based on complicated AI algorithms which can't reasonably be deduced from the little information Blizzard has made available to us. Thanks to the work of some dedicated individuals, however, we now know that this is not the case. Today we have a quite thorough theory on aggro which explains most of the factors involved in a mob's target selection. These ideas and findings are outlined in this article. = Theory = Threat Several abilities and effects increase a character's threat level against a mob. Note that the effective amount of threat generated can be modified by talents and spells. See the Threat modifiers subsection for details. Threat level increasing abilities Name Threat Health gained (from certain effects) 0.5 Mana gained (from certain effects) 0.5 Healing done 0.5 Damage dealt 1 Rage gained 5 Demoralizing Roar 42 Faerie Fire 108 Demoralizing Shout 175 Cleave 500 Distracting Shot (rank 6) 600 Heroic Strike 890 Shield Bash 910 Sunder Armor 1050 Revenge 1370 Shield Slam 1950 Threat level reducing abilities Name Threat Soothing Kiss (rank 4) -165 Pet:Cower (rank 6) -225 Druid:Cower (rank 3) -600 Disengage (rank 3) -405 Feint (rank 5) -800 Fade* (rank 6) -820 * Fade is a temporary buff. When it expires, its threat level reduction is revoked. Threat modifiers The actual threat generated by the effects above can be modified by the following abilities, talents and spells: * All classes ** Blessing of Salvation (Paladin Blessing). All threat generated is reduced by 30%. ** Tranquil Air Totem (Shaman Totem). All threat generated is reduced by 20%. * Warrior ** Battle Stance. All threat generated is reduced by 20%. ** Berserker Stance. All threat generated is reduced by 20%. ** Defensive Stance. All threat generated is increased by 30%. ** Defiance. All threat generated in Defensive Stance is increased by 3%-15% (depending on rank). * Druid ** Dire Bear Form. All threat generated is increased by 30%. ** Feral Instinct. All threat generated in Bear and Dire Bear Form is increased by 3%-15% (depending on rank). ** Maul. Threat generated on next attack is increased by 75%. ** Swipe. Threat generated by this ability is increased by 75%. ** Subtlety. Threat generated by healing spells is reduced by 4%-20% (depending on rank). * Paladin ** Righteous Fury. Threat generated by Holy damage is increased by 60%. ** Improved Righteous Fury. Threat generated by Holy damage when using Righteous Fury is increased by 16%-50% (depending on rank). ** Healing done only generates 0.25 Threat. (Blizzard intentionally mdid this to avoid Paladins tanking-by-healing.) * Mage ** Arcane Subtlety. Threat generated by offensive Arcane spells is reduced by 20%-40% (depending on rank). * Priest ** Shadow Affinity. Threat generated by Shadow spells is reduced by 8%-25% (depending on rank). ** Silent Resolve. Threat generated by spells is reduced by 4%-20% (depending on rank). * Warlock ** Master Demonologist. With Imp summoned, threat generated by all spells is reduced by 4%-20% (depending on rank). Additional notes * Pulling (being the first who a mob attacks) does not generate any threat in itself. * Overhealing doesn't generate any threat, only actual health restored. * Threat doesn't decay (passively degenerate over time). * A character's threat level is reset if the character dies or moves away from the mob. * A character's threat level cannot be negative. * The Feign Death ability resets the hunter's threat level on all mobs which don't resist it. Aggro By aggro we understand the condition of a particular mob attacking a particular character. The basic behaviour of aggro is controlled by the rules outlined below. Obviously, some mobs will have secondary attacks which have different targeting procedures. Pulling The following conditions will cause a mob to attack a character if it isn't already attacking someone else: # Using certain abilities on the mob (including attacking it), or # Moving inside the aggro radius of the mob Drawing Aggro The following conditions will cause a mob to attack a character if it is already attacking someone else: # Taunting the mob, or # Exceeding the threat level of the mob's current target by 10% within melee range of the mob, or # Exceeding the threat level of the mob's current target by 30% outside melee range of the mob, or # If certain abilities impair the access of the mob to its higher threat-ranked targets (e.g. root spells), the mob will attack the highest threat-ranked target in it's ability range (usually visible for melee mobs or silenced casters, which have a combat range of 5 yards) Taunt has some strange behavior in that if the tank pulled, the mob will stay on the tank after the taunt debuff has worn off, even if the tank has not made up the 10% difference in aggro between the tank and whoever pulled aggro. If another party member pulls (and does not wipe their aggro) then if they later pull aggro from the tank, if the tank taunts he must do 10% threat before the debuff wears off or he will lose aggro again. = Implications = * Let the tank pull. This way, his taunts will always return aggro to him. * Because characters standing out of melee range will not draw aggro until they exceed the threat level of the mob's current target by 30%, it's important that the tank keep the mobs well away from the casters. If a caster does draw aggro and you taunt it off him, make sure you also move it away. = References = * Kenco . Some Threat Values and Formulas http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-warrior&t=735732&p=1&tmp=1#post735732. Category:Formulas and Game Mechanics